Our Armed Forces commitment

Proud to support the Armed Forces

Servicemen and women often come fully equipped with the skills we’re looking for. But we recognise that there’s a world of difference between life in the Armed Forces and a civilian career. We’re committed to understanding these challenges, and to easing the transition.

In 2019, we formalised our commitment to the Armed Forces community by signing the Armed Forces Covenant. Since then, we have been awarded both Bronze and Silver level awards through the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. We are currently working to achieve Gold status.

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A powerful history

Our association with the Armed Forces can be traced back to the ‘Tunnel Tigers’. These were the pioneers of our hydro projects – the men who built the dams and tunnels to bring renewable generation to Scotland. Many were former members of the services.

SSE’s Head of Heritage, Gillian O’Reilly, has been leading a project to gather stories from engineers and workers who helped bring hydro power to Scotland over 70 years ago.

Hear from an original Tunnel Tiger

How we support the Armed Forces

Our dedicated support package helps veterans, reservists and members of military families find new careers at SSE. These range from operating renewable assets such as wind farms and hydro plants to maintaining electricity grids that transport clean energy. And our ‘Belonging – Armed Forces’ community, led by employees, provides a safe space for people to share experiences and access support.

Promoting the Armed Forces

To our staff, our customers, our suppliers, our contractors, and to the wider public, we are committed to promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation.

National Events

We proudly support Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day, and Remembrance activities.

Service Spouses and Partners

We partner with the Forces Families Jobs Forum to support the employment of Service spouses and partners, and we offer them flexible leave when a partner is deployed.

Reserves

Some of our people are active members of the Reserve Forces. We provide paid time-off for annual training and support any military mobilisations and deployment.

Cadet Organisations

We support our people who are volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations with a mix of paid and unpaid time off for attending annual training camps and courses.

Veterans

We work with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to support the employment of veterans, and we recognise appropriate military skills and qualifications during recruitment.

"We’re proud to be a forces-friendly organisation and want to continue to support those working with us now and in the future from the services community."

John Stewart, HR Director, SSE

Remarkable people, powerful stories

Throughout SSE, you’ll find ex-Armed Forces people who have successfully transferred their skills to the energy sector, or retrained for a rewarding new career. Read some of their stories.

From chief petty officer to project manager

Mark Homann was a marine engineer with the Royal Navy and now works within the Networks business as a Project Manager.

He is using the skills he honed in his career with the military to help SSE meet it's ambitious net zero targets.

Joining as an adult trainee

Jonathan is a former Royal Marine who spent seven years in the military as a heavy weapons specialist before joining SSE Networks as a Technical Delivery Engineer.

He joined as an adult trainee and the skills he learnt from the Royal Marines helped him kick-start a completely new career with SSE.

From infantry to arboriculture

Mark Beaman was in the infantry for fifteen years before joining SSE.

In his role as Performance Manager, he is responsible for making sure that the arborist teams in his areas are working safely and efficiently.

His experience in the military has helped Mark excel in his role.

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